The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Lose
by Feeling-Grand
Summary: Mr Peabody has been spending his spare time building a new machine... a mind machine. On his first night of testing it he enters a world he never should of... his very mind.. and learns the subconscious is left hidden for a reason.


"_Think... Peabody... think..."_

The dog whispered words to himself standing alone in his lab.

He'd built so many things in his lifetime but the greatest achievement of all was something he had not invented.

His son... Sherman.

Sherman was going so well at school. He had made comrades, had not been in fights since the first day and was succeeding in all his subjects.

Peabody was so proud. Half a year had gone by and things seemed to be flourishing.

Trips from the wabac machine had limited themselves in the last couple of months because of the upset from last time.

This didn't bother Peabody, He was nothing if not a dog of many interests and he had been inventing a new instrument... one that would delve deep into his mind.

He had never failed in an experiment. His scores for success were always a hundred percent. He had worked out the mechanics in the months he had had, Sherman's absence during the day giving him hours to ponder over the mathematics.

He was sure, he was so sure.

Just one last sign was missing from the equation. He looked deeply into his computer screen of programming and it suddenly hit.

"Infinity..." he whispered. He typed in E on the make up and pressed update. The screen flashed a green light.

It answered.

"Equations equal up." His green eyes peered into the screen and it finished, "Syncing instructions up to helmet."

"Success!" he said in a quick breath. His tail wagged gently behind him and he watched quietly the electronic helmet blink in quick symbols at its many lights adjusted to their new settings. It had worked.

The dog's lips arched up slowly in a grin. He had done the impossible and now all that needed to happen was for it to be tested.

He turned to his screen and looked at the configurations with a handsome gleam. He turned everything off with a simple flick of the switch and left his laboratory in silence. He would come back and test it later tonight... but for now he had to pick up his son.

XXXXX

His wheels skidded along the ground of the road as the white dog drove the distance from home to school. All the time however his mind was calculating how his new invention would work. It originally came into thought when he pondered on newer and more fun ways Sherman could enjoy himself and then the idea arrived as clear as day. A mind machine. A machine that could tap into the worlds of your subconscious and conscious, reach your potential and go to places in the brain you couldn't reach other wise. Of course that's what Peabody would use it for but for his son, he would design some adventure games and worlds which his son could explore in a safe environment.

The virtual world of games was so limited in comprehension and experience whereas if the brain was programmed up to it you could experience it as if it were real. Always giving Sherman the advantage in life was his goal, for knowledge of both the external world and internal realms was something he treasured so.

And something which was now in his grasp.

He pulled up outside the school and smiled happily, his tail wagging when he spotted his son skipping out joyfully as he talked to Penny Peterson.

"See you later, Penny!" Sherman said as he waved his hand boisterously with a big smile and the girl giggled back as she said with ease.

"Bye..."

Sherman turned and ran up to his dad, a smile still present on his lips and said in joy.

"Hey, Mr Peabody! Guess what we learnt today!"

"Do tell me, Sherman." Peabody said with a warm grin and Sherman got into the buggy carriage, the two departing.

"Well, we learnt time tables in Maths! It was pretty hard but I got ninety percent on my test!"

"Well done, Sherman." the dog said proudly and stopped at the red light. The sun shone brightly down on the skyscrapers, casting a shadow over them on the east and Peabody started up the scooter as the wheels spun and they travelled down streets to home.

"I have something I must tell you too, Sherman." Mr Peabody continued as the two went up the lift to the highest floor and Sherman swayed his arms about in eager.

"What, Mr Peabody?"

"I have finally finished my new _mind_ machine. So in the future, once properly tested I could start developing _mind_ games for you."

"What will they be like?" Sherman asked curiously as they reached the top floor and the dog just chuckled. He turned to him as they reached the sitting room and pat a spot on the sofa for Sherman to sit as he himself held up concept art he had worked on. Sherman sat down quietly and looked at the pictures as Peabody began.

"Well first I'll be turning some of your favourite books into virtual words for you to explore. I started with Harry Potter and Eragon, the computer is at now analyzing the descriptions in the books and will turn them into worlds."

"Okay?" Sherman replied a little bewildered.

"Then when the helmet is put on it will sync the right electrical signals to your brain to make these worlds become real. Of course I wouldn't let you go into one without adult supervision but you understand?"

"I sure do, Mr Peabody!" Sherman said, his eyes excited. "Wow that sounds like so much fun! When can we try it?!"

"Not for another month or so unfortunately..." the dog admitted and Sherman's eager smile slipped slightly, "I'm going to test it tonight just on myself. Imagining worlds into realisation is just one thing, you can also unlock your subconscious and learn more about yourself... which I intend to do. Of course I'll only use the _mind _machine for five minutes tonight, but you understand? I intend to plug a screen up to it to show what goes on in the your mind with images... what one imagines and so on."

"That's great, Mr Peabody!" Sherman said with a big bubbly smile and looked at the time, biting his lip as he said, "I better get started on my homework! Maybe I'll get all my maths questions right tomorrow if I try hard."

"If you need help with anything don't be afraid to ask," Peabody said with a warm smile and watched his son leave. The dog straightened himself and walked with ease as he headed to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

As he flung the stir fry in the air with his pan he watched in exact calculation the food land precisely on the surface of the pan. The onions and peppers were cooked to the proper degree and the flavouring he had made from scratch made the stir fry taste just like heaven.

As he cooked his mind went over many things... the lectures he agreed to give in Harvard that week, the conferences he had with the UN and apparently the noble prize he was going to receive soon for his contributions to science.

But the main thing that occupied his train of thought was all the niches and small tidbits he had to double check for his mind machine.

He got his metal scooper and put the rice on the square plates in prefect semi spheres. The stir fry soon followed as it was laid in great detail around the rice with a small prawn salad being served on the side for proper nutrition.

"Sherman."

The two sat at the square large white table and ate their meals as Peabody talked to his young son about his day.

"Well Carl and Hesh and I played _Who Am I _and no one guessed I was Queen Elizabeth!"

"Wonderful role model for empowerment of females." Peabody said with amuse, "Though meeting her in person she was quite a harsh ruler for her time."

"Yeah, but her castle sure was nice." Sherman said with a smile remembering such the time.

"To think, she would rather stay alone and rule the kingdom than marry and lose power. But quite the cunning mind she had."

"How so, Mr Peabody?" Sherman asked curiously.

"Well she kept all the kings and princes in the courting arena, many not willing to attack her England and losing their chance of co-ruling it. Shrewd yet brilliant... the Tudor line dying with her but leaving a legacy we could all account."

"Uh huh." Sherman said as he swallowed down some more of his hot food.

"A real _Queendom_ at the time."

Sherman laughed at the pun but said after a few seconds, "I don't get it..."

Mr Peabody shook his head amused and looked outside to the five o clock sun... time getting closer to the moment he would test his newest dog made device and see what lay in the confines of his mind.

His fork swirled around the long pieces of onion and rice as he lifted it to his muzzle and placed the delectable food on his tongue.

But it was simple times like these with his son that he cherished most.

XXXXX

The sun set on schedule across the New York landscape and replaced itself with stars and the shining moon. Peabody set about cleaning his cutlery. A sponge was in his paw as he cleaned the last glass and placed in upside down on the dish rack. He took a sigh out as he looked at the time say nine and called to his boy,

"Sherman, bed time."

"Sure thing, Mr Peabody!" Sherman said tiredly. The boy was already dressed in his pyjamas and hurried to the sink in the bathroom to brush his big buck teeth.

Peabody walked in simple steps towards Sherman's room and met his son who yawned in a stretch as the boy entered his bed and looked at his dad in tire.

"Goodnight, Sherman." Peabody said with love and pat his son on the head, "If you need me I will be in my lab."

"Night, dad..." Sherman replied tiredly, addressing his adopted father informally for a second but was too tired to notice. The dog just smiled warmly and turned off Sherman's light, shutting the door softly to a close.

The dog continued in his swift steps to his lab, turning on the lights and the room activating at his presence as lights shot on to show experiments in their separate spaces... but he was too occupied in thought to pay them any heed.

He reached his main and new breakthrough experiment and looked at the cushioned chair with the helmet device ready to be lowered onto head. He bit his lip anxiously and doubled checked his calculations one more time.

As he watched the computer skim through months of work he tapped his paw against the desk quietly before the computer blinked green and replied.

"There are no flaws in programming. Helmet is synced up."

The dog nodded his head with a simple slow calming blink as he looked over to the chair which had wires and switches surrounding it. He took a deep breath and got up from his computer chair, walking over in silent steps to the prototype and sat down on the seat.

It was soft and comforting yet all the same scary and a heavy buckle lowered onto him. He took a weak gasp as a control pad rested in his paw. He had set the time for five minutes like planned and only that, and pressed the green button on the pad as the helmet lowered over his head. His eyes were covered over by the helmet's glass shield and within a few seconds he knew the machine would give the back of his head a small electrical painless shock.

He waited those seconds and in an instant everything went pitch black.

His eyes opened wide in an explosion of neuron activation as he entered the chasms of his mind...

...and the secrets they beheld...


End file.
